Grade One double for Var

Grade One double for Var
Avontuur’s resident sire Var had a Grade One double at Scottsville’s premier horse-racing meeting for a second consecutive year on Saturday.

The Var sired Via Africa scored the third Grade One win of her sparkling career when she landed the Gr1 The City of Pietermaritzburg SA Fillies Sprint, while her paternal half-brother, Normanz, won the day’s main feature, the Gr1 Golden Horse Sprint, to provide Var with a rare double.

In 2013, Via Africa won the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint, while the Var sired Contador landed the Gr1 Golden Horse.

In 2014, however, Var went one better – his daughters Via Africa and Varikate finished 1-4 in the SA Fillies Sprint, while Var sons Normanz and Happy Forever finished in the same positions in the Golden Horse Sprint.

Via Africa, who was bred by part owner Andre Hauptfleisch, has now won 10 and been placed in six of her 16 outings.
Out of the Qui Danzig mare Bump ‘N Grind, Via Africa, who has earned in excess of R2.4 million, looks a top contender for the Equus Award of Champion Sprinter, having won the Gr1 Cape Flying Championship earlier this season.

Normanz, who was landing his first Grade One race, was bred by Avontuur. Out of the American Chance mare La Normandie, Normanz has now won five of his 14 outings, for prize money over R780 000.

Var, whose offspring include seven Grade One winners and over 50 stakes horses, has had a fantastic season in 2013-2014.
His son, dual Horse of the Year Variety Club, is currently rated the world’s second top racehorse. The multiple champion became the first foreign horse ever to win the Gr1 Champions Mile in Hong Kong, and is currently being aimed at the 2014 Breeders Cup Mile, where Variety Club could go head to head with some of the world’s finest milers.

His sire Var (by Forest Wildcat) has been represented by 15 stakes performers in 2013-2014, and his success continues unabated.